I have begun to think about all pleasant learning filled experiences that I remember from all of my education across the years, and interestingly hardly any of the experiences happened within the classroom. I remember:
i. Going outside to sketch in nature in grade five
ii. Visiting a farm in one of the earlier grades, and learning how to milk a goat and sew a small pillow
iii. Gathering recycled materials for a collage project with my students in Peru
iv. Making rubbings of leaves and rocks outside
v. Sketching at the aquarium for an animation project
I suppose for in classroom experiences that I do remember are
vi. Creating clay vessels in class in grade three or four
vii. Creating pattern boards in grade three or four in which we could really do whatever we wanted
viii. Sketching umbrellas in class in high school
ix. Creating our own plays in grade 12 drama – costume, makeup, auditions, directing, lighting, sound – all of our own doing
x. Creating my own speech for a wedding, in Spanish, for a Spanish advanced class
xi. Writing creative stories
I suppose all of these experiences have experiential learning in them. Some include learning life skills, and the rest of the experiences, are all creative challenges that did not box me in as a student, human being, or artist. Setting ones own parameters is for some individuals like myself the most fulfilling and motivational because it provides a challenge of ones own doing. Give me freedom and I excel, box me in and watch me fade.
Now, is it more useful to have a bunch of little assignments based around skills learned, or a large project taken to completion of ones own choosing after small skills have been learned?
2. How do you think you could use some of these aspects within a creative setting, such as teaching art?
In teaching, creative setting or otherwise, I feel that experiential learning is essential for many students as it allows them to put theories (dictation, reading, and discussion) into practice, and thus truly learn via all various aspects and modes of learning. I feel that it is important to know as a teacher that there will be many perspectives in the classroom, and that there will also be a huge magnitude of learners – some that are slower or faster than others, some who thrive within structures, some who absolutely cannot, and others along the spectrum. In understanding this it becomes essential for the instructor to make allowances for students to work to their own potentials. Environment is also important, in that students do not need to just learn in the classroom, and students can perhaps be taken to other areas of the school, or community, or city to learn – this is also key in experiential learning. Fieldtrips are considered fun compared to school yet we lock students in classrooms during the sunny daylight hours.
I would allow students who wished to come up with their own projects, to take to completion. I feel that longer more involved projects, in which the student can truly explore is one of immense fulfillment. Since larger projects take longer, the teacher can give demos, give individual students help, and really facilitate learning for each student. When students then come back to view each others projects, and gather in critique, students are proud of projects in which they have been allowed to take the time to explore.
3. What makes you uncomfortable in a classroom setting?
Classroom settings can be uncomfortable if too sterile, with nothing of interest on the walls. Classroom settings can also be uncomfortable if they are to structured, or too quiet, or too dark. Good lighting is a must. Elements of nature and comfort in the classroom are a necessity in making the classroom and learning a true part of daily life, and instilling that learning is all the time and lifelong. Within a class, students can become uncomfortable if bullying is happening with action to quell it, if students are picked on, if there is too much or too little structure, and if inequalities are occurring. Also certain types of discussion and subject matter can make students uncomfortable.
For example sexualized violence against women can be a very touchy subject for students for whom this may hit too close to home. Perhaps they or a family member or friend have been affected by such an incident. We as teachers may think this is an important subject to discuss, or bring up, but we also have to realize that we should all get to know our students before bringing up such material, and that we should create classroom contracts with students so that they may leave the room when such topics are discussed, without being looked at like “why are they leaving?”
4. What do you love about being in a class?
Within a class I like to get to know the people around me. I think that it is important to know who people are and where they are coming from. I enjoy this because it allows for greater comfort and humanization on both sides. I enjoy sharing ideas and having discussions to learn about others, their ideas, perspectives, and cultures. This makes for very interesting learning that is all encompassing. I also enjoy working on larger projects that I can fully research, carry our learning and experimentation within, and then creating something new or improved, or at least that I am genuinely happy with. I enjoy these larger projects, because they allow one to see how I think, and to see my process, while I have better understood how I think, and now, better know my process. I enjoy being able to take what I have learned and apply it to my own dreams and ideas. I enjoy the freedom of being able to do this.
This goes back to the perspectives of all students, and perhaps allowing them to work on what is important to them.
5. Do you think the instructor should be the primary source of information in a course?
I do not think that the instructor should be the primary source of information in the classroom. The instructor is not the internet or wikipedia, and even the internet and wiki get it wrong. Information can come from the internet, from books, from peers, from the self, from nature, from research and experimentation, etc. There are many places information can come from. I do believe however that the instructor should be very knowledgeable in what they are teaching, and be practicing it to an extent on the side. For example if the instructor is teaching a student how to do metal work, it is important that that instructor know how to do metal work, and also be working on it within a practice of sorts so that their skills and technologies are up to date, and they can best teach the students. The role of the instructor is to facilitate the learning in whatever ways possible.
6. Describe two ways that students can be more involved in course content
Students can be more involved in course content by being given choice, perhaps to research a part of the course content. Then though their new research and via trial and error if it is a new skill they are learning that is a part of that content, then teach it to the rest of their peers. Students can also be more involved by creating their own long term project proposals that allow them to cover course content doing something that appeals to them and that is of their own imagining and want to do – self directed studies.
7. What is the best way for you to absorb information? Describe why
The best way for me to absorb information is to be immersed within it body, mind, and soul. I must be able to see it and or feel, touch, taste, and or hear it. I learn by reading, listening, doing, watching, and writing. These are all important steps of an experiential process. This is total immersion, and immersion is a way for the mind, body, and soul to connect in a way as to fully understand a process, or and or learning.
8. What are the main things that a student can learn by taking an art course?
In taking an arts course, a student may learn a new technique or way of doing something, become better at understanding themselves and their work, being able to describe their work, being able to hone a skill, become better at critique and communication, and becoming better in visual communications. These are some of the important things a student can learn by taking a visual arts course.
